Fortis Pours $15M Into Dallas Arts Tower Lobby Revamp

The owner of one of Dallas’ most recognizable office towers is focusing on art as a strategy to keep its building competitive in the office market.

Fortis Property Group completed more than $15 million in upgrades at the 55-story Dallas Arts Tower, a nearly 1.3 million-square-foot office building at 2200 Ross Avenue known for the six-story keyhole-shaped opening near its crown. The Dallas Business Journal reported that the renovations include a redesigned lobby, new amenities and a 2,000-square-foot public art gallery featuring work by North Texas artists.

The gallery opened Thursday and is part of Fortis’ attempt to better connect the tower with the surrounding Dallas Arts District, home to major cultural institutions including the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Brooklyn-based Fortis bought the tower in 2017, when it was still known as the Chase Tower. The building was later renamed the Dallas Arts Tower to reflect its proximity to the city’s cultural corridor after JPMorgan Chase vacated the property, according to the publication.

Fortis partnered with the nonprofit Business Council for the Arts to curate and manage the new gallery, which occupies a former Chase bank branch near the building’s entrance. The space will host three or four rotating exhibitions, according to the outlet, and feature permanent works by local artists including Carmen Menza, Simon Waranch and Du Chau.

Terrence Storey, Fortis’ chief investment officer and COO, told the outlet that the art installation was designed to inject creativity into a corporate environment.

The art program is only one piece of the building overhaul. Fortis also refreshed the lobby with new flooring, lighting, furniture and added an all-day café. The firm replaced the building’s original green marble floors — a hallmark of late-1980s design — with white stone to brighten the space and create a more contemporary feel.

“The tenants have the leverage,” Storey said. “They have to attract their employees back to the office after the pandemic.”

Nearly a quarter of the Dallas Arts Tower remains vacant, with occupancy in the high 70 percent range, though Fortis recently secured a notable expansion: law firm Vartabedian Hester & Haynes plans to double its stake in the building and take the entire 50th floor.

Stream Realty Partners handles leasing for the tower.

— Eric Weilbacher